Memory Garden: (ceeadsalaskazone3) Carol Eve Eads

I didn't know Carol like most, I loved her pictures of Alaska and "spoke" with her a few times on DG; but with her passing I've been reading many of her posts and posts from others that loved her so much. Carol joined DG on March 29, 2002 and contributed far more than she probably ever knew. She was there to answer questions and really put a perspective on life and love. Some things I found out about Carol:

She really loved her family and friends.
She really loved her wrinklies, as she called her puppies.
She really loved reading, and her garden, and Alaska.
She really loved hunting, and fishing, and camping and just really communing with nature.
She was an exceptionally intelligent person.
She believed that her higher power was here on Earth and we should live for that power now! Live life to the fullest and make the most out of every moment...don't waste any of them; she didn't.

She really loved life!

Carol was not that old, but how can life be measured? Is it measured by how long our feet stand on this soil or is it measured by how much we have done while here? I believe it is the latter and Carol took full advantage of that philosophy.

She took on her illness with a strength and dignity that I could only hope I would have if given the same circumstances.

Carol Eve Eads was born September 9, 1947. She passed away on May 5, 2008 at the home of her sister Ava Eads in Seward, Alaska, after a courageous battle with terminal brain cancer.

Carolís Journey, a 27 thread segment on Parking Lot Forum in Daveís Garden: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/841051/
is a tribute to her intelligence, her knowledge, her love for all nature has to offer, as well as her willingness to share all of that with others. She started the first thread in October, http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/779992/ after receiving her diagnosis, as a way of saying Goodbye to all of her DG friends. Instead of saying goodbye, she gained more friends who continued to climb her mountain right beside her.

Along with all the friends she met on Daveís Garden, she is survived by her sister, Ava, who cared for her unconditionally during her illness; her father John Calvin Eads; her son John Calvin Wood, her brother John Charles Eads, all of Seward, Alaska; her daughter Tonya Victoria Bass and grandsons Travis, Trevor, Timmy and Taylor of Wasilla, Alaska; her only niece Deanne Moore of Kenai, Alaska and her significant other of 20 years, Sammy Goodwin of Seward.

Carolís favorite color was blue, and if you were fortunate enough to receive seeds from her, you will find that most of her flowers were shades of blue. Her favorite times of year were spring for composting and planting, and fall for the annual family bird hunting, trout fishing and berry picking trip. She was an avid reader on topics from nature to history to art to poetry to philosophy. She absorbed everything she read and shared it with those of us who loved her.

Carolís joy in living, her love of nature, her inspiration changed those of us whose lives she touched. The lessons she taught us are invaluable, and she will be missed by all of us.

Our lives are all much better for having had Carol cross our path in life. May her family and friends find peace in the every days of life and the beauty of nature around us. I feel that Carol would be proud to think she had a great part in that understanding.

Kathy

Here is a very recent picture with her family. Carol is leaning over her Dad.

Carol's contributions to DG will be sorely missed by me. I'll be thinking of her everytime I call out "here kitty kitty" to my chicken but I'll also be thinking of Ava back in Alaska and Sharran here at DG everytime I see that patch of flowers underneath Carol's user name. You two women are equally as remarkable as Carol.

I would like to thank everyone who had a hand in putting this beautiful tribute to my sister together. I can feel her standing behind me, looking over my shoulder, and reading these wonderful words right along with me. She loves you all, and so do I.

Carol.. my friend... You have left the physically world, but are in my heart and in my yard. Thank you for the gift of friendship and I humbly thankyou for allowing me to travel with you on this journey. Know that you were and are and will be forever so loved .

Paraphrased from some religious text that I don't remember now, but I think it applies here too. We all know Carol has gone to a better place, whatever that may be. And the "angels"? They are here as well as there.

Although I never communicated directly with Carol and never really "knew" her, through the web of life, mine has been overwhelmingly touched and inspired by her incredible and wonderfully Odd spirit. The network of love and unity that has poured from the Carol's Journey threads, and transcended the barriers of differences in belief or opinion, has been one of the most uplifting things I've witnessed, and truly felt.

Through a network of seed swapping, I have orchid blue hardy geraniums started from Carol's garden. The last couple of days when I've gone to tend them, a soft, but robust chuckle seems to echo in the back of my head...

The love and care I give to those seedlings is my focus to send that Love to Carol on her continued Journey and to all of you who've been on it with her.
Neal

Though I only knew Carol through this site, I was touched, as were many others, by her unabashed love for life. She impacted so many in her time here. Exciting travels on this next part of your journey, Carol.

I've been waiting to post because I was having a hard time thinking of what to say - but then it dawned on me that what I really want to say is that I shall cherish the friends I've made because of Carol, and will always remember her and the things she taught me without realizing she was teaching: patience, honesty, fortitude, persistence, humor, curiosity, tolerance, and the ability to trust my instincts in my own garden :) I feel truly blessed to have been able to join her for even a small part of her Journey through life.

Ava, I'm also grateful to have met you, even though we both would have wished for different circumstances. It's a true honor to know any of the Eads clan. I mourn her passing, yet relish the thought that she may visit my garden. I think of her now, along with my beloved parents, when I see the butterflies stop by, or hear the gold finches as they swoop around.

And, like Neal, I seem to only be able to smile whenever I see the plants that have sprung from the seeds I was fortunate enough to get from Carol's garden. I swear they are chuckling too :)

She embraced life to the fullest and honored our earth with her gardening. She challenged us to think outside the box on many topics yet with a sense of humor and curiosity that was wonderful. She will be missed.

It's been a year now, but seems sometimes like only yesterday. We're still together all of us, still traveling along on the Journey Carol drew us into. Lots of life long friendships started there, and continue even now.

Carol has her Sammy with her now, and I hope their journey is together as it was here.

Miss you, Carol...you are ever in our hearts.
And your Himalayan poppies are springing right back up for us!!!

Carol was an amazing woman...wise, loving, full of life, and who knew how to live life and enjoy it. She was highly intelligent and loved learning everything about whatever she could. Whatever she did, she threw herself into it with everything in her.

I reread the threads that were prior to her passing and each time I go thru them I am touched by her posts. She is greatly missed and she made her world and everyone in it a better place.